Following reports by The Wall Street Journal and Qatari media about IDF operations in and over Iraq related to the Iran war, The Jerusalem Post can now disclose matters that until now were kept under the radar.<\/p>\n
Only now that the Journal and Qatari media are reporting more details about the IDF presence that temporarily existed in Iraq, and the Iraqi<\/a> government\u2019s furor over the incident (or at least its public disclosure) has gone public, can the Post confirm the various details about a small Israeli rescue team being established in Iraq.<\/p>\n The Post also learned that IDF special forces rescue units had been clandestinely placed in Iraq, in order to have the capability to jump into action to rescue any IDF pilots who might crash-land if they were shot down.<\/p>\n In the end, no Israeli pilots were shot down, so the Israeli rescue team did not need to act, but it was there to be ready for the worst-case scenarios. American pilots were shot down and had to be rescued by US forces in real time.<\/p>\n On April 6, the Israeli censor permitted the Post to publicize some details from an interview with IDF Hatzerim Air Force Base chief Brig.-Gen. R., who commands both F-15<\/a> and F-16 squadrons.<\/p>\n Asked to describe relations with the US Air Force, he responded, \u201cIt is truly historic and unprecedented. Israel has never worked directly operationally with any other country\u2019s air force. The US also has never worked with another country like this \u2013 military relations are truly intimate.<\/p>\n \u201cI was personally on the way to attack Iran<\/a>, and was refueling over Iraq with US forces, talking to them in English and telling the whole story of my mission,\u201d he then added as a side point for color.<\/p>\n Suffice it to say that Brig.-Gen. R. was far from the only Israeli pilot to fly through Iraqi airspace.<\/p>\n These were not the only details that had been revealed to the Post.<\/p>\n